Fireworks and Confessions
by EldestIrish
Summary: Lily is trying to pass the summer, waiting for Hogwarts to start again. A Muggle county fair attracts the attention of a black haired boy who is waiting to make her heart explode with love.


Lily was laying on the couch backwards, reading a book

Lily was laying on the couch backwards, reading a book. Her mother hated when she did this, but with her knees bent over the back of the sofa and head hanging upside down, this was how she was most comfortable. The tattered book between her hands was Lily's much loved copy of Hogwarts, A History. Lily couldn't wait for September. She had no friends in the muggle world and this was turning into the longest summer yet. Her owl was nearly exhausted from flying back and forth with letters to all of Lily's friends, including James Potter. They had called a truce this last year, in hopes of making their final year in school a more enjoyable one for all of them.

The county fair was going on a few blocks away from Lily's house. In fact, she could hear a few distant screams from where she was. Lily had told James about it in one of their letters and he was instantly fascinated. He begged her to tell him about it and Lily reciprocated with tales of the Ferris wheel and the Tilt-a-Whorl and the two layer carousel. Seeing James' child-like fascination through his words, Lily invited him and Sirius and Remus to come and stay with her a few days so they could go down to the fair. The invitation had been extended to Peter as well, but he was on holiday with his family and couldn't make it. Lily's mother had agreed to house the three rambunctious boys for the week. And, Lily noted as she looked at the calendar, the week was due to start tomorrow. She smiled happily and closed her book. She flipped off the coach and landed on the floor with a reverberating thud.

"Lily!" Mrs. Evans poked her head around the archway to see her daughter sprawled on the floor and laughing like a lunatic. "Lily, are you alright?"

"I'm fine Mum." She giggled. Standing up, Lily passed though the archway and into the kitchen, where she grabbed an apple. "I'm going to go make the guest room beds for the boys."

Still giggling, Lily left the kitchen and pulled three sets of linens from the laundry room. She trundled up the stairs, hardly able to see over the blankets in her arms. Her sister's door was open when she passed it, so Lily said a quick, "Hi Tuney!" before continuing down the hall. Petunia's response was to get up and slam her door. Lily winced slightly, but kicked open the guest room door anyways.

Lily laughed at how pathetically small the guestroom was. Two twin beds were pushed to opposite wall with two nightstands between them. With a dresser up against the wall parallel to the beds, there was barley enough room to edge by to get to the other side of the farthest bed. She wasn't sure how the three tall boys would fit in here, but she was pretty sure that magic would help with the answer. So, dumping the linens on the closest bed, Lily headed to her room and picked up her wand off the bedside table. She ran her hands over the warm wood, excited to be doing magic in her home.

She nearly pranced back to the guestroom and stood between the two beds. Tapping the willow wand against her lips, Lily tried to figure out how to fit another bed in. Another moment of thought levitated the nightstands to the top of the dresser and Conjured another bed between the existing two. The end result was wall-to-wall beds that Lily wouldn't have been able to make without magic. Lily admired her handiwork, snickering under her breath at the idea of the Marauders sleeping together in the one big bed. But the ringing doorbell cut short her thoughts and she hurried down the stairs.

"Hello! Welcome to the Evans' home. How may I help you?" Lily managed to rattle off before she took in who was standing before her. Instantly a bouquet of flowers were thrust under her nose- deep red roses, shocking white daisies, radiant violets, sunny buttercups, johnny jump-ups, springing sweep peas were all twisted together with a braided rope of sweet grass. The surprising melodic voice of Sirius Black spoke through the foliage in her face,

"I brought you these because I figured you'd be sick of getting lilies and my mother taught me never to show up at a lady's house without flowers." A pink warmth crept up the boy's face as Lily's eyes lit up. She took the bouquet from his hands and cradled them to her chest.

"They're beautiful, Sirius! And you're right. It's so predictable of people to get me lilies." She stared at the boy, who was nearly a man, who filled her door frame. Standing at six feet two inches, he was taller than most boys his age and his regal manner made him seem that much bigger. Long, shaggy black hair fell into his spectacular grey eyes, that were set off by his sharp cheek bones. His face finished off with a unexpectedly feminine mouth that was always smiling and catching the eye of every female in the room. Lily herself was being sucked into his charm. He crossed his arms across his chest and that brought Lily's attention to the fact that Sirius Black was all muscle and sinewy. He had strong shoulders and thick arms from playing quidditch his entire life. Even as she observed all of this, Lily's brain was thinking.

"Sirius. Not that I don't love you being here, but you're a day early and alone. I didn't even know you could be alone." Sirius flashed his crooked smile at her and leaned a little closer.

"I decided to come a day early so I could get some time with the "Great Lily Evans" before James showed up tomorrow and tried to monopolize all your time." This flustered Lily a bit, not used to getting attention from a Marauder other than James. "Are you going to let me come through the door or do I have to spend the night on the step?" Sirius asked. Lily turned violently red as she stepped aside to let him though the door.

"Mum!" Lily yelled as she led Sirius through the house, "Mum, where did you go?"

"In the kitchen, dear. As always." Mrs. Evans replied as she turned to find the two teens already standing behind her.

"Mum, this is Sirius Black. Sirius, this is my mum." The two exchanged pleasantries and shook hands.

"Where are the other boys, Lily? I thought you said three were coming." Mrs. Evans asked as she pushed her hair out of her eyes. Lily was ready for this.

"Sirius was having some problems at home and needed to get out, so he came a day early. The other two, James and Remus, will be here tomorrow. We're going upstairs to get him settled and catch up a bit." Lily grabbed Sirius hand to take him upstairs before he could say anything and was surprised when the boy twisted his hand and threaded his fingers with Lily's.

"Just come back downstairs to say goodnight to me." Mrs. Evans had already turned back to the sink and was cleaning that night's dinner dishes.

"I will." Lily responded. Her mother turned back around to face the two in her kitchen.

"Both of you come and say goodnight to me." Mrs. Evans was looking pointedly at Sirius, who blushed and nodded his head. Lily pulled him out of the kitchen before any more embarrassing moments could show up and trample them.

Still holding his hand, Lily brought her guest to the next floor and pointed out the rooms to him. She pulled him into the guest room and shut it behind them.

"So this is where the three of you will sleep." Lily waved a hand around the cramped room and Sirius laughed at the beds as well. He dropped his stuff in the middle of the one giant bed and proclaimed that he liked to be the centre of attention. They spent a few moment chatting and putting his clothes in the dresser. Lily brought him towards the bathroom so he could place his toiletries in there and wandered off to her bedroom.

Sirius sagged against the door as soon as Lily closed it. He slid to the floor and put his head on his knees. As of right now, Sirius couldn't remember why he decided it was a good idea to show up early. He was just taunting himself with James' girl. But she also hadn't resisted his touch when he wrapped his hand around hers. Sirius groaned and lumbered to his feet. He dropped his toothbrush in the cup next to Lily's and placed his shampoo in the shower. Steeling himself, Sirius opened the door and went to find Lily.

He found her in her bedroom. She was brushing out her long red hair and tying it back into two long plaits. Lily caught sight of him in her mirror and spun around. He was leaning against the door frame and simply observing her. There was a sudden burst of sound and colour out the window that made Lily squeal with delight. It had the opposite effect on Sirius, who whipped out his wand and charged at the window.

"No, Sirius!" Lily yelled and tried to grab him. "It's a firework! It's just a mixture of chemicals to look pretty!" The boy stopped and let his arm swing to his side. "Let's go say goodnight to my mum and I'll show you how to get on the roof and we can watch them!" Lily then sped out of the room before Sirius could make any objections.

The pair ambled down the stairs and made an appearance to Mrs. Evans. She kissed each of their foreheads and said a goodnight. She then directed Lily to the fridge, saying that there was a snack in there for them. So the redhead flew into the kitchen, grabbed the cut apples spread with peanut butter, and ran back up the stairs, leaving Sirius to follow.

Lily already had a leg out of her window and their snack on the roof when Sirius made it back to her.

"Come over here!" She waved an arm impatiently and disappeared into the night. Sirius stuck his head out the window the Lily had just left. She gave him instructions on where to place his feet and what to wrap his hands around. It was only a matter of seconds before both were on the roof and facing the fireworks display.

The two started munching on the snack that Mrs. Evans had made for them, enjoying the occupation of both hands and mouths. The fireworks really started to pick up speed and the sky was a blur of red, blue, silver, yellow, and green. Lily picked up the last two pieces of apple and passed one to Sirius. She moved the plate to her other side and scooted closer to the boy. He slipped his hand around to her hip and she lay her head on his shoulder.

A giant sphere of sizzling golden stars lit up Sirius' features when Lily looked over at him. He was gazing in wonder up at the sky, but when he looked down at her, the wonder didn't leave his eyes. This frightened Lily a little, but enthralled her at the same time. She pressed herself tighter to his side and Sirius pressed his mouth against hers. Lily pulled away from sheer shock. The boy's face fell at the rejection, but then Lily kissed his back and a smile graced his already occupied mouth. Lily could taste the sorrow through the peanut butter and wondered what it was for. Sirius broke the kiss and ran his thumb over her cheek, chuckling as a green firework made her emerald eyes glow.

"Love James." He muttered. Lily tipped her head to the side as she surveyed him, confused. She went to kiss him again but Sirius turned his mouth away from hers. "I said, love James." He repeated a little louder.

"I heard what you said." Lily looked at him sternly, a frown carved into her bow mouth. She wrapped a hand around his neck and pulled him down for another sweet, sorrow-laden kiss.

"No, really, Lily- love James. He'll be good for you. He wants to settle down and do the whole wife and family thing, just like you." Sirius said when their kiss broke. Lily frowned at his logic. "Don't deny that you don't want a family, because I know you do. Look, James and I are nearly the same person. I'm just… just… just more wild then he is. He'll make you happy, Lily, and Merlin knows, I want to see you happy."

Lily looked up at him, her emerald eyes shining,

"But I want to love you."


End file.
